Panel 13

Panel 13
Religion, Literature and Film in South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora
21 European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies
Bonn July 2010
Convener Dr. Diana Dimitrova, Michigan State University, USA
Panelists (in order of presentation)
Dr. Sutapa Chatterjee Sarkar
Olivier Bougnot and Dr. Anne Castaing
Dr. Laetitia Zecchini
Rashi Rohatgi
Dr. Annie Montaut
Dr. Guzel Strelkova
Kerry San Chirico
Dr. Diana Dimitrova
Dr. Urvi Mukhopadhyay
Dr. Sunny Singh
Abstracts (in order of presentation)
Folk Deities, Tigers and Mortals: Life in the Mangrove Swamps of the Sundarbans
Dr. Sutapa Chatterjee Sarkar
West Bengal State University, West Bengal, India
The Sundarbans - located in southern West Bengal, India and south-western Bangladesh -
remains synonymous with the Royal Bengal tiger and to some extent its mangrove forest
unique to South Asia. The riverine forests with unique physical features offered a tough
proposition to human habitation through ages. In fact, battling with hostilities of nature
was so overwhelming an aspect of the settlers’ lives that it led to evolution of deities to
whom they could seek refuge psychologically during difficult times.
The focus of this essay is on forms of religious practices in the Sundarbans and their
representation in traditional literature. Between the 17 th and 19 th centuries there thrived a
punthi (Bengali verse) literature devoted to gods and goddesses of the region. It catered
to and arose from psychological needs of lowest and marginal elements of the population.
There evolved a common cult standing apart from orthodox Hinduism and Islam. With
relevance in the context of Richard Eaton’s work on Islam on the Bengal frontier, this
paper will attempt to address this unique position and offer a qualified acknowledgement
of the prevailing framework.

The texts dealt with here are the following:
i) The Raimangal eulogizing the tiger god Dakshin Ray was written in the year 1686 by
Krishna Ram Das. Later it was edited and published by Satyanarayan Bhattacharya on
behalf of the Calcutta University. There is also an incomplete undated manuscript of the
Raimangal by Rudradev. This was published in the Sahitya Prakasika, Vol. V, Dwadash
Mangal, ed. Panchanan Mondal, Santiniketan, 1966.
ii) The Ghazi-Kalu-Champavati-Kanyar-Punthi was composed by Abdur Rahim. The
date of compositon is unknown. But reference to the sub-division in which the author was
born makes it clear that the text could not have been written before the Mutiny. It was
presumably a late nineteenth-century punthi.
iii) The Banabibi Jahuranama is about the mother goddess Banabibi. This was composed
by Banayuddin in the year 1877. There is another version of the tale by Marhum Munshi
Muhammad Khater entitled Banabibi Jahuranama written in 1287 B.S., Kartik, i.e. 1880.
These texts are all written in simple verse. It is well known that the people chanted some
verses before they entered the forest so that no danger would befall them.
Defining our Enemy: National Consciousness and Communal Persistence in Hindi
and Bengali Literature
Olivier Bougnot & Dr. Anne Castaing
INALCO – Paris, France
This paper aims at questioning the persistence and the transformation of communal
reflexes at work in Hindi and Bengali literature from the mid- XIXth century, examining
the close and paradoxical links existing between the building of a nation based on unity
and the stigmatization or the evacuation of the Muslim. If some recent works identify
explicit communalist discourses in XIXth century literature (Bankim Chandra Chaterjee,
Harishchandra Bhartendu) and early XXth century literature (Maithili Sharan Gupt), this
paper is concerned by the transformation of these “explicit discourses” into “implicit
discourses”, as occurred from the mid-1920’s, when they are contradicted by the unitary
fervour inspired by Gandhi and the Congress Party. Simultaneously, it explores the
crystallisation of the feeling of “enmity” brought about by Partition, which converted a
former “stigmatized” Muslim into a “guilty” Muslim. In this regard, Rabindranath
Tagore’s and Agyeya’s stories will display the ambivalence between the authors’ explicit
discourses and the text’s implicit communalism.
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Bhakti in the modern mode: the filiations claimed by contemporary Indian poetry
Dr. Laetitia Zecchini
INALCO- Paris, France
The paper aims at exploring how contemporary Indian poetry in English and in Hindi
translates, both literally and figuratively, the bhakti tradition and the bhakti texts. The
paper will focus on the reinterpretation of the two towering figures of Tukaram and Kabir
and their relevance in the works of Kedarnath Singh in Hindi, Arun Kolatkar, Dilip
Chitre or Arvind Krishna Mehrotra in English. What are the terms of this dialogic
interaction between medieval and modern voices? What affinities with the bhakti poets,
whose voices have often been reconstructed as subaltern, do contemporary poets choose
to foreground? Is the religious dimension lost or silenced to "this-wordly"
preoccupations? The central experience of alienation and otherness in bhakti poetry, the
directness and the ecstacy of these voices, their irreverence, inappropriateness and
resistance to a "dividable" truth, the marginality, itinerancy and unhomeliness of the sants
and varkaris, but also their restless experimentation with language seem particularly
significant to contemporary poets.
The Construction of a New Mauritian Hinduism in the Poetry of Abhimanyu
Unnuth
Rashi Rohatgi
SOAS, London, UK
Abhimanyu Unnuth is the most well known Mauritian poet writing in Hindi. His works
are a response to and an expression of Indo-Mauritian self-understanding in the years
after the struggle for independence (obtained in1968), during which unification of the
community under the auspicies of religion and language was instrumental in obtaining a
largely peaceful independence. The poems grapple with the sufferings faced by the
community's laboring ancestors as well as the meaning that such suffering can have in
light of the shortcomings Unnuth witnessed in Mauritius in the 1980s: poverty, hunger,
exploitation, and political obfuscation. Classically Hindu concepts- questions and
characters from the epics and the puranas- are juxtaposed with post-colonial questions of
what heaven and higher power mean. Through these juxtapositions, Unnuth comes to
conclusions about what his Hinduism and the Hinduism of a new generation of Indo-
Mauritians can be. In the end, his choice of language- Hindi, the religious vernacular for
Indo-Mauritian Hindus but the daily language of very few- renders him less effective
than writers in English, French, or Creole at reaching his audience, but, I would argue,
more effective at illustrating the power of religion not only to react against traditional
understandings of Hinduism on the island but to transcend them. Exploring the way
Unnuth has, with his re-membrance of the Mauritian laboring soul, redefined Hinduism
for a new generation of Indo-Mauritians, brings a new dimension to Unnuth's poetry for
non-Mauritian readers.
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On Two Interpretations of Marginality in Contemporary Literature and Art
Dr. Annie Montaut,
INALCO, Paris, France
The very notion of margin is intrinsically ambivalent..On one hand, the now prevailing
meaning of the term, used since the early eighties as a constructive concept by the various
trends of cultural studies, takes for granted a vision of the world society as a field once
structured around a more or less stabilized centre reigning over its voiceless (yet not
devoid of agency) margins, the latter more and more claiming for a de-centred identity in
a general struggle for legitimacy. Transposed on the South Asian scene, such an agonistic
model seems particularly fit for analysing the so-called ‘dalit’ literatures, particularly in
Indian languages, as well as radical works voicing a claim against high cast/class
hegemony. On the other hand, the notion of marginality is traditionnally connected with
the figure of the sadhu right from the early shastras. A paradox admitted by the
anthropologist Louis Dumont and made central by Madeleine Biardeau’s reading of
Hindu society. The sadhu, who stands at the indeterminable limes of society, both inside
and outside of it, the true ‘tatasth’ (lit. on the river bank: belonging to neither here nor
there) is at the same time the one outside the varnas, beyond the whole social
architecture, and the one embodying the very aim of every section of the society and the
truth of society itself as its raison d’être (true knowledge and true speech) – similarly
moksha has been interpreted by some as the cardinal purushartha, in the continuity yet
beyond and outside the three others.
Both meanings seem to be radically opposed, the first one echoing an agonistic model of
society, the second one an inclusive model. I will illustrate both meanings with four
examples (respectively Mohandas Naimisharay’s ‘historical’ novel Virânganâ Jhalkârî
Bâi and Ritwick Ghatak’s last movie vs Jainendra Kumar’s Resignation (Tyag patr), and
K.B. Vaid’s There is no other (Dusra na koi), and attempt to show that the opposition
may not be so radical.
HINDU GODDES OR MUSLIM PERI – A HEROINE OF Ph.RENU’S “TIISRII
KASAM ARTHAAT MAARE GAYE GULFAAM” (STORY AND FILM)
Dr. Guzel Strelkova
Institute of Asian and African Countries, Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia
The paper is based on a story written by prominent Hindi writer Phanishvarnath Renu
“The Third Vow or Killed Gulfam” and its screen version. The main heroine, Hirabai, -
an actress of Nautanki Theater – is perceived from different points of view (by the
narrator and the story’s main and second plan heroes). The aim of the paper is to discuss
to which extend religious, cultural, literary and commonplace perceptions of the one and
the same object may differ, how religion and myth can construct perception and
description of the heroine, how it is performed in the story and the film. The both – the
story and the film - show interaction and interference on the “border” between “right and
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wrong”, “good or bad”, “legal and illegal”, “equal or subaltern”. As a result, the heroine
and the hero act and balance on the margins.
“Tiisri kasam arthaat maare gaye Gulfaam” is considered to be the classics of
contemporary Hindi literature. It deals with a popular in dastan poetics motif of a love
between an earthy prince and a fairy which was used in the first Urdu play “Indra Sabha”
(1853) and presented the so called “Hindu-Muslim synthesis”. P. Renu brilliantly applied
this motif and at the same time he used Hindu religion and myth. It helped to the writer to
create a plot, characterize the heroine, transmit international folklore and literary tradition
and reach some other tasks (including ideological ones).
The main attention of the paper will be paid to the margins on which the heroes of the
story coexist (mainly in the world of Hindu and Muslim religions and culture, rural and
urban style of life). Finally the hero takes a vow, meaning that he avoids marginality and
continues to belong to his own social, religious and cultural strata. The heroine also does
not change her usual way of life. But a few days they spent together changed their life. In
this way the story and the film confirmed that a margin is as much important as a norm
and it is necessary to discuss and consider them both – and try to realize their cross
influence.
Dharma, the Dharmik, and the Religious Other in Hindi Popular Cinema:
Exegeting Films as Religio-Cultural Texts
Kerry PC San Chirico
University of California-Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California, USA
Whether it to be the samajik (“social”/popular) film or the specifically dharmic
(religious) film, the connection between religion and film has been significant since the
birth of Indian popular cinema in the early 1900s. The popular film, in particular, has
always born the marks of dharma either in content or form. While the genre is never
referred to as the “Hindu social,” a Hindu worldview is in fact presented. At the same
time, it is no coincidence that the dominant ideology of the social/popular genre has long
mirrored the dominant ideology of the nation-state. Thus, Indian popular film, including
the Hindi variant known since the 1990s as Bollywood, provides the exegete a religiocultural
text of modern, mostly middle-class India, exhibiting ideological and sectarian
tensions, imaginaries, hopes, and nightmares (in the form of bhoots, prets, and
Pakistanis). What, then, do recent films tell us about the role of the religious other in the
contemporary Indian imaginary? This paper examines the role of dharma and the dharmik
in Hindi popular film before demonstrating the deep ambivalence present in filmic
representations of India’s religious minorities. The paper is happily accompanied by
Hindi film clips to be translated by the author. These films include Guide (1965),
Imtihaan (1974) Amara, Akbar, Anthony (1977), Fanaa (2006), and Kurbaan (2009).
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Religion and ‘Otherness’ in Bollywood Film
Dr. Diana Dimitrova
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
This paper will explore the representation of the notion of ‘otherness’ in Bollywood film.
I will focus on the interpretation of the West and of the religious ‘other’ in film as well as
on issues of diaspora and globalization. Some of the most recent Bollywood films that I
will discuss are: Lagan (The Rent on Land), Dil cahta hai (The Heart Wants), and Ham
Dil De Cuke sanam (I Have Already Given My Heart Away), Dilwale Dulhane Le
Jayenge (The Bridegroom will Take away the Bride) and Kuch kuch hota hai (Something
Happens). It is characteristic of the films that they deal with aspects of modernity,
westernization and globalization in order to assert nationalistic Hindu identity that is
different, “other,” and often traditional and conservative. The paper will examine the
ideological implications of the representation of religion and ‘otherness’ and will also
address questions of orientalism, diaspora and globalization.
Imagining the Powerful ‘Other’: Representations of Razia Sultan
Dr. Urvi Mukhopadhyay,
West Bengal State University,
West Bengal, India
Razia bin Iltutmish (1236-40 AD) was perhaps the first woman in the Islamic world who
exercised her political power from not behind the scenes, but actually as a ruler. Though
the medieval sources have scarcely referred to this unusual phenomenon, an interest
about this atypical ruler is quite rampant in the Orientalist writings since days of the
colonial period. Romantic tales about Razia and her ‘fatal’ relationship with her ‘black’
‘slave’ became a staple for historical romances as early as in 1836 where the focus was
on ‘tragic’ tales of medieval lives under the oppressive conditions of ‘despotic’
governance and ‘bizarre customs’. The image of Razia became more intriguing as it
could generate the seductive attraction of the oriental pleasures by portraying a woman at
the centre of the courtly intrigues. This imagery drew a striking resemblance with widely
portrayed image of another oriental female ruler Cleopatra, whose representation became
the reservoir of polemical ‘other’ of the occidental male self in popular literature and
films. The feminine image of Razia, however, stirred a more complex emotion during the
nationalist movement, when the woman with power to rise against the ‘demonic’ rule of
the foreign power was evoked to uphold the nationalist self-esteem. At least three
versions of Razia’s reign were made on screen during three different historical periods:
1924, 1961 and 1983 respectively.
This paper would like to trace the popular representations of Razia, especially on screen
by which the politics of representation of the controversial stereotypes such as ‘oriental
despot’, ‘female ruler’ and ‘Islamic woman’ could be re-invoked. The focus will be on
three different films made on Razia named Razia Begum (1924), Razia Sultan (1961) and
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Razia Sultan (1983) which will hopefully reveal the complex relationship between
history and popular imaginations that changed along with time
Remembering Bhangashvana: Towards an Inclusive, Fluid Construction of Gender
and Sexual Identities as the Basis for Representation in Commercial Hindi Cinema
Sunny Singh
London Metropolitan University
London, UK
In the Mahabharata, Bhisma explains to the Pandavas that only Bhangashvana would
know whether men or women experience greater sexual pleasure as he alone of all
humans had lived as both a man and a woman. The story is not alone in Indic classical
texts which abound in gender and sexual fluidities. Indeed, one may argue that gender
roles and archetypes, and the part they play in sexual identity and desire is not the binary
formulation of the Semitic traditions, but rather based on a spectrum of gender and sexual
identities that may simultaneously inhabit multiple socio-cultural spaces and assert
multiple and fluid manifestations.
This paper examines the ways gender and sexuality are constructed in popular Hindi
cinema as part of a ‘fluidity spectrum,’ creating images that traverse limiting ideals of
masculinity and femininity and provide spaces for assertion of sexual identities that need
not fit into limiting/limited socio-psychological constructs. The paper considers a range
of films of the past forty years, including Rafoo Chakkar (1975), Razia Sultan (1983),
Daayra (1996), Shabnam Mausi (2005), My Brother Nikhil (2005) and Dil Bole Hadippa
(2009), exploring not only films that foreground issues of gender and sexuality but also
those that seem to treat non-heteronormative desires in subversive, diverse and inclusive
ways.
As part of this analysis, this paper attempts to argue that perhaps new theoretical
formulations of sexual and gender identities are needed for cinema and literature in India
that go beyond constructions of “queerness” and/or “camp” in order to provide a more
culturally-relevant explanation of gender and sexuality that are based on fluidity and
inclusiveness, rather than binary exclusions.
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